Whoa Pony!

There has been recent talk again about selling Wichita water from El Dorado Lake.

Comment

Butler County Times Gazette

Writer

Posted Feb. 2, 2013 at 12:00 PM

Posted Feb. 2, 2013 at 12:00 PM

Dear Editor:

There has been recent talk again about selling Wichita water from El Dorado Lake. It was not too long ago that Sedgwick County came looking to find a place to dump their trash with a large-dollar offer in hand and were subsequently turned down by a wise group of Butler County Commissioners. Could it be that a re-worked Trojan horse has just changed names and contains the same endemic problems?

Water is obviously a limited resource, as all the Mid-western’s know after the last two years of drought. No one can argue that our El Dorado Lake is not one of the best draws to our community.

If generating a revenue stream via lake water is what our citizen’s want, perhaps we could look at all options. Here is one. El Dorado has an Industrial Park. How about considering using reduced water rates to entice business to town.

This action would use far less water than the ever-growing population of Wichita and actually grow us in a sustainable fashion.

I’m just saying we need to pull back the reins a bit on this horse and not be too quick to sell our future down the river. It would an understatement to say I’m unconvinced that entering into contractual agreement with Wichita is even close to a good idea.

This said, I am willing to: openly listen, ask questions and be a part of the conversation.